This invention relates to apparatus for the collection and handling of trash, and more particularly, to a new and improved trash collection and compaction apparatus primarily intended for use onboard commercial passenger aircraft for the collection and compaction of trash during flight.
The handling and storage of trash collected onboard aircraft during flight has long presented a major problem for the airline industry. On a typical transoceanic flight employing a wide bodied aircraft such as a Boeing 747-400 operating at range, it is not uncommon that seventy five to one hundred cubic feet of waste for galley disposal (that is, excluding food trays and refuse thereon which are separately collected and stored in special food carts) may be generated during the flight. The storage of such high volumes of galley waste or trash have presented particular problems, as collection is usually performed simply by service personnel moving through the aircraft cabin and collecting trash in plastic bags or trays which are then stowed in substantially any available space on the aircraft. In some cases, trash filled bags and trays are even stored during the flight behind the last row of passengers seats and/or in unused passenger seats and luggage compartments. Storage of trash in such a manner is not only unsightly and an inconvenience to passengers, but presents potential safety and health hazards.
One solution to the trash storage problem which has been gaining in acceptance, is that of the installation of a trash compactor onboard the aircraft. To be used onboard an aircraft, however, the trash compactor must be small in size and relatively light in weight, and must meet stringent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety and airworthiness regulations, as well as airframe manufacturer and airline industry requirements. Exemplary of trash compactors specifically designed and intended for use on aircraft are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,620,479, 4,700,623, 4,719,852, and 4,729,303, and which disclose trash compactor units into which trash is deposited after collection from the passenger cabin for compaction into relatively small storage boxes. Notably, however, trash compactors of the aforementioned type require that the trash collected, for example in a plastic bag, tray or service trash cart wheeled through the passenger cabin, be separately transferred from the collection bag, tray or cart into the compactor unit for compaction.
In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on recycling and the separation of recycleable materials such as aluminum and plastic from other nonrecycleable trash items. Indeed, in many European countries, the separation of recycleable materials from other trash items is mandatory, and many airlines are required to pay a fee to have recycleable items removed from collected trash following termination of a flight. While in theory it may be possible to source-separate trash by separately collecting recycleable items from the passenger cabin through repeated cabin passes, or, in cases where an onboard trash compactor is available, separately depositing recycleable items from the collected trash containers into the compactor, such an approach is totally impractical due to the time and number of personnel that would be required.
Thus, there exists a need for a trash collection and compaction apparatus capable of providing a safe, organized and sanitary one-step trash handling system that allows for the source-separation of trash to promote environmental economy, and the compaction of large volumes of trash into a very small volume to reduce the space required for the storage of trash aboard an aircraft. As will become more apparent hereinafter, the present invention satisfies this need in a highly novel and unobvious way.